Asia Pacific Metalworking Equipment News is pleased to speak to Cas Brentjens,Vice President Solution Consulting Asia Pacific & Japan at Infor regarding his projections on the megatrends for 2019 and the disruptive technologies that have impacted the industry in 2018.

1. Can you sum up your company’s focus and achievements in 2018?

Users now want to have an intuitive, mobile-app style user experience. That’s the first aspect of our focus – Infor builds complete industry suites in the cloud and efficiently deploys technology that puts the user experience first, leverages data science, and integrates easily into existing systems.

The second focus is to offer end-to-end digital solutions to help companies and enterprises outpace the digital disruption and unlock their growth potential. Companies are now in a competitive environment where most industries are being disrupted by new players with unique business models. We want to help companies by providing a platform where they can outpace the competition and the disruption that is happening in the industry.

2. What are the projects that companies within the industry are currently focusing on?

There has been a focus on upstream supply chain processes and we have been working on projects to help optimise large data centers through our asset management solutions. For the automotive industry, we are also looking at how to position companies in their journey towards establishing electric vehicle plants and the manufacturing of components for the new electrical vehicle market.

Companies are also investing in the factory of the future, which are optimized factories with connected IoT devices that are collecting data and doing smart things with that data. This could help in maximizing output, optimizing maintenance schedules or the customizing of products for the individual customer.

There is also one megatrend whereby companies are customizing what the consumer wants and individual industry players are working towards that trend.

3. What are your projections for the APAC economy in 2019?

Digital disruption will still happen with new players entering with new revenue models and new product offerings. Companies in most industries will be moving from a product-only business model to offering both products and services. A shift of focus in the industry from mass products to hyper-personalization will continue to happen and companies will shift from a horizontal or vertical play towards a functional play. Industries are also moving from one aspect that they are really good at from a manufacturing or services perspective, to servicing the customer from a holistic view.

4. What business trends in Asia will capture your interest for growth next year?

What is happening with the “Made in China 2025” vision is changing the way supply chains across APAC are being organised. You can see a re-design of supply chains where factories are moved out of China to Vietnam or other emerging countries. The Belt and Road initiative has not only impacting the infrastructure in China, but it is also impacting the re-design of the supply chains in other regions. Therefore, large mega-trends like the Belt and Road initiative, Industry 4.0 and “Made in China 2025” vision are making a big impact in the industry, and we are looking very closely at those.

5. To sum up, what do you think is the key industry trend in 2019?

Dealing with hyper-personalization in the market where customers are now expecting more customized products and the industry must deal with how to meet that demand and bring it to market and with speed.

Vietnam's growth has been astronomical. In 2019, the country is set to welcome a new National Innovation Centre, IoT Innovation Hub and produce its own domestic automobiles as VinFast gears up its production plant in Haiphong.

Asia Pacific Metalworking Equipment News is pleased to conduct an interview with Mr. David Chia, Automation Charter Chair of the Singapore Industrial Automation Association on his views on the future of manufacturing technologies in Asia and the impact of the current trade war on the industry.

Asia Pacific Metalworking Equipment News is pleased to interview Ms. Tan Yen Yen, President, Asia Pacific at Vodafone Business regarding Vodafone’s achievements for 2018, the company’s aims for 2019, and the trends that will shape the industry in the following year.